Just down the road from Disneyland is another iconic and historic theme park. Located in Buena Park, California, Knott’s Berry Farm has been open since 1940, when rides and attractions were added to keep guests entertained while waiting for Mrs. Knott’s famous fried chicken dinners and boysenberry pies. The park is now owned and operated …
Amusement Parks
This post is sponsored by Visit Buena Park. All opinions are my own. Buena Park, California is best known as the home to the Knott’s Berry Farm theme park. While it has humble rural and agricultural beginnings, the area has grown into a bustling destination for family fun and entertainment more generally. When my family …
Whether you are a local or a tourist, the city of San Francisco has dozens of family-friendly activities and events to keep you busy. But sometimes it’s rewarding to get out of the city and explore more of the greater Bay Area and Northern California. Day trips are logistically easy as well as a cheap …
Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee is a theme park with a few serious thrills and a lot of Southern charm. My family visited several years ago during our summer travels through the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina. We were very pleasantly surprised by all the offerings for families with younger traveling kids …
The Halloween season at many theme parks is often all about terrifying guests. As much as our family loves theme parks, the late night Halloween scare fests are a no-go with younger kids in tow. We’ve instead stuck to more family-friendly fall events. But these kinds of events at amusement parks are few and far …
Think Disneyland park is the only park at the Disneyland Resort with things to do with the toddler and preschooler set? Think again! Disney California Adventure has really come into its own in recent years, adding a number of rides, shows, and attractions that appeal to young kids. Once a bit of an afterthought or …
The year 2020 was pretty bleak for all types of businesses in the travel sector. But few were hit quite as hard as theme parks. From Singapore to Paris to Anaheim, amusement parks were universally shuttered around the world for many months. While many reopened last year and more are reopening just now, theme parks …
You know every nook and cranny of the Magic Kingdom. Epcot is your home-away-from-home. But this trip… you are ready to cheat on Disney. As a die-hard Disney fan, going to another theme park may give you pause. But a day at Universal Studios Florida, Universal’s Islands of Adventure, or Universal’s Volcano Bay is a …
A little over an hour away from San Francisco and about 20 miles south of San Jose is the town of Gilroy, California. It is probably best known for its agriculture – in particular, its garlic. Gilroy plays host to an annual summer garlic festival that draws serious crowds. But Gilroy has another attraction that is …
Like most families, mine loves to visit theme parks in our travels. When we can’t travel far from home, we try to make time for day trips and staycations to some of our local theme parks in the San Francisco Bay Area and Northern California. I recently realized that we had one major hole in …